The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1887-12-15

lions than those Of financial admin
1stration are to be taken into account
with regard to whisky. There Il a
moral side to it. To cheaper the price of
whisky Is tn increase the consumption
enormously. There would b no sense
IN urging the reform wrought by high
license in many states if the national
government neutralized the effect by
making whisky within the reach
gallon. Whisky would be
everywhere distilled if the
surveillance of the government were
withdrawn by the remission of the tax,
illicite sales could not then be pre-
vented, even by a policy as rigorous and
searching as that with-which Russia
pursues the nihi1ists. It would de-
states. Whisky has done a vast deal
of harm In the United States. would
try to make it do some good. / would
use the tax to fortify our cities on the
Seaboard. In view of the power
full letter addressed to the democratic
party on the subject of fertilization by
the Mr.. Samuel ]. Tilden in 1885, am
amazed that no attention has been paid
to the subject by the democratic admin
istration. Never before in the history
of the world has any government al
lowed great cities on the seaboard, like
Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Bal
timore, New Orleans and San Francis
co, to remain defeneeless.'
"But," said the reporter, ''you don't
think we are to have war in any direc-
tionP''
Certainly not,' said Mr.. Blaine
Neither, / presume, did Mr.. Tilden
when he wrote his remarkable letter,
but we should change remote chance
into a absolute impossibillity if our
weak and exposed points were strongly
fortified. If to-day we had, by any
chance, even such war as we had
with Mexico our enemy could procure
iron-clads in Europe that would
menace our great cities with de-
struction, or lay them under contribu-
ton"
''But would not our fortifying now
possibly look as if we expected war?'
'Why should it, any more than the
Notifications made seventy or eighty
years ago by our grandfathers, when
they guarded themselves against sue
cessful attack from the ornaments of
that day? We don't necessarily ex-
pect a burglar because we lock our
doors at night, but if by any possibility
a burglar comes, it contributes vastly
to our peace of mind and sound sleep
to feel that he can't get inn
but after Notifications should be
constructed would you still maintain
the tax on whisky?"
Yes said Mr.. Blaine, $50 long as
there is whisky to tax, would tax it,
and when the national government
should have no use for the money 1
would divide the tax among the
federal with the specific object of
tightening tax on the real estate The
houses and farms of the whole country
pay too large proportion of the total
taxes. If ultimately relief could be
given in that direction it
would, in my judgement, be
wise and benefcient, The policy
some honest but misguided friends of
temperance babe urged thaS the gov
eminent should not use money derived
from tax on whisky. My reply is
that the tax on whisky by the federal
government, with ils suppression of all
Illicit distillation, and the consequent
enhancement of the price, has been a
powerful agent in the temperance re-
form, by putting it beyond the reach of
so many. The amount of whisky con-
sumed in the United States per capitr
to-day is cot more than forty per cent
of that consumed thirty years ago."